This year is a big year for milestones for me and my company. Like many journeys, you don’t realize how far you have come until you look back and see that you are a long way from where you started. In 2018, I launched my consulting company, Rogue Tulips Consulting, which means this year is the 5th anniversary. Wow! And that 5-year period includes the pandemic lockdown which sent my company back to day one (like a lot of solopreneurs). It was tough and discouraging but I’m still here. September 18, 2023 is the anniversary of the day that I filed the incorporation papers and so far, so good.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, Rogue Speak. This week's topic is: Harassment, Brick Walls, & Apathy: How NOT to treat Members, Clients, or Customers.

Customer service (also known as client service or member service) is what sets apart any company or organization that is committed to excellence. While all organizations need to earn money to survive, that cannot be the only driver when it comes to serving the people who use your products or services. Think about the best experiences you have with any organization providing you with a service: it almost always comes down to how helpful, informed, and service-oriented the representatives are.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, "Rogue Speak." This week's topic is: “Has Our Profession (Nonprofit Management) Lost its Way?”

I framed this title as a question because I have a lot of questions about the state of our profession, and I’m sure there are people in our profession of nonprofit management who think everything is fine and dandy. The status quo is continuing so why worry? We are going along the same way we always have. The same tired beliefs are passed around and unfortunately repeated to newer professionals. We are practicing acceptance in a bad way because it is leading us to stagnancy.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, "Rogue Speak."  This week's topic is: “Standards of Conduct and Their Importance”

The topic of the moment is artificial intelligence (AI) and why we need rules, regulations, and guidelines for its behavior. Debates are happening nearly constantly as experts pick sides (for or against AI) and researchers from both ends of the spectrum make arguments and give examples from their research and experience. Based on what I’ve seen and learned, most commenters think some rules are necessary even if these rules are basic.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, "Rogue Speak."  This week's topic is: Don't Even Get Me Started . . . Things On My Mind 1. Harassment Marketing 2. Women Not Speaking Up 3. Anti-Consultant Bias.

We all have them. Topics and issues that you don’t EVEN want to get started on because you will go on. And on. And on. Usually, these topics are emotionally charged or just plain frustrating because there doesn’t seem to be any resolution in sight. For example, when it comes to driving: Why don’t people use their turn signals? Was there a strange EMP (electromagnetic pulse) that ONLY affected cars turn signals making them non-functional?

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, Rogue Speak. This week's topic is “We Not Me: Thoughts on Servant Leadership”.

Yesterday (April 27) I had the opportunity to participate in an AWTC Salon; if you are not familiar with the Salon concept, it’s when people get together to discuss an idea or a concept. The topic was Servant Leadership and our facilitators that kicked off the conversation were Juan Sanchez, Amreetha Nagaraj, and Rhoni Rakos.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, Rogue Speak. This week's topic is "The Day after Trinity & Artificial Intelligence.”

Back in the 1980s when the world was fun, there was a great song called “She Blinded Me with Science” by Thomas Dolby. It keeps coming to mind when I think about artificial intelligence, avatars, deep fakes, and the frightening trend to abdicate our responsibility as humans for this tool we created and unleashed with little thought for its long-term impact.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. The author reads her weekly message from the Rogue Tulips Consulting newsletter, Rogue Speak. This week's topic is "The Day after Trinity & Artificial Intelligence.”

Scientists often chase big changes without considering the consequences of their actions. Living in the “now” of their research and their laboratory, they move forward with a dangerous carelessness about the future impact of what they are doing. The rest of us become hostages to their “vision” as they insist that we just don’t understand as we are too uninformed and unintelligent. Yet, we must suffer the outcomes of their vision.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. This episode: the author reads her weekly Rogue Speak message.

We are about three weeks away from the CAE Exam period for May 2023, and the excitement is building. While there is always some tension and sometimes stress in prepping for the CAE Exam, there is a lot of energy in the community as our nonprofit management colleagues demonstrate their commitment to their profession.

As we near the end of the first quarter of 2023, AWTC is gearing up for its annual awards ceremony where they recognize women in associations making a difference with technology.

Last Saturday, I completed the course work for the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) credential -- which focuses solely on 501c3 organizations -- by successfully passing the exam. I became interested in this credential when I saw a colleague’s post on LinkedIn about her accomplishment of earning their Advanced CNP credential.

Radio Free 501c is the voice of Rogue Tulips Consulting. This episode: the author reads her weekly Rogue Speak message.